New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-07-17
FIGHTING FIERCE FLAMES
THE DESTRUCTIVE WAREHOUSE FIRE.
NOBLE WORK or THE YIREMEN IN SAVING I'M
HOTELS ORIENTAL AND DNoRMANpIE--sLIaHr
DAMAGE TO TIE CAsINo-UNABLK TO

NOBLE WORK or THE FIREMEN IN SAVING THY
HOTELS ORIENTAL AND DNoRMANDIE-sLIGHr
DAMAGE TO THE cAsINo-uNABLE TO
ESTIMATE THE LOSS.
The Are which destroyed the storage warehouse
Of the Metropolitan Van and Storage Company, at
Nos lit, 119 and 121 West Thirty .eighth-st. wss
discovered shortly before a. m. yesterday By
Angus Mcdonnell the wstchman employed there.
He first smelled tho smoke and then saw
the light of the fire on tho second floor.
Without losing and time he ran to the nearest sig
nal box and sent out the alarm for the fremeu.
There was no time to ascertain how the flames had
started.
The 6remen who were FIRST to reach the building
saw that they had big job on hand and theyisent
calls for extra engines. Assistant Chief McCsbs
ordered more help a. soon as he got to the
warehouse. The fve-story building was
filed with furniture above tho ground
floor. Several hoistways enabled the flames to
spread rapidly into ell tho stories and the highly
combustible materials soon made = roaring fire.
On the ground floor were thirteen big furniture
vans and tally-ho coach belonging TO tho COM
pany. They were obstruotions in the way Of the
remen at the outset. and as they could not be got
out of the doors without horses they were left to
be burned up.
Few streams of water had been turned into tho
building by the time the fire had extended to tho
roof and it was then apparent that the warehouse
and its contents were doomed to destruction. Old
Peter Vedder. foreman of Engine Company No. 20
In West Thirty-seventh-st.. called his men to Q
stairway leading up from the first floor
in the hope Of fighting the flames away
from the furniture vana Engine Com
pany No. /, from Twenty-ninth-st. followed
closely with a second line of hose, while Engine
Company No. "a. from Thirty -third-st., put up .
ladder against the front of the building and sent
stream of water through second-story window.
THROWN TO THE GROUND BY AN EXPLOSION.
Suddenly the flames and smoke were shot out in
to Thirty. eighth-s as If there had been expo-
sion in tho warehouse. Window panes were
smashed aud Thousands Of fragments Of
glass were blown into the street to
cut the hands and faces of the
fremen and policemen. Old fremen present knew
that there was no explosion. They recognized tho
dangerous back-draught which Is liable to occur
at any large fire. The upward suction of the flames
had been stopped by some atmospheric cause, and
the result was shock equal IL force to an explo-
sion. number OF men were thrown off their feet In
front of the building among them Sergeant Shell
don. Of the Thlrtieth-st. police Several of them
were bruised severely. Fireman Patrick Breen.
one of the men working on the ladder at the second
story window. was blown of the ladder to the side
walk Hn face was scorched and he received .
serious injury to his back in the fall
moment later the fremen who were inside
tho warehouse were heard calling for help. They
had been caught by the back k-draught on the stair
way. knocked down and singed by the flames.
Firemen on the street rushed in to rescue them.
For time there was great excitement aud when
call for ambulances was rung 1t was feared that
number of fremen had been killed. One
after another the members Of the two engine
companies that had been at work inside the ware
house staggered into the street or were carried
out by comrades Their rubber coats had protected
their bodies from tho flames. but their faces aud
hands were burned and their hair was singed ex-
cept where the leather helmets covered their heads.
Foreman veddef was one of the chief sufferers. and
he was one of the first to he placed in
an ambulance Firemen Edward Curley and John
Conrov of his company were burned severely also.
Curley was taken to the New York Hospital aud
Vedder and Conroy were sens home. Firemen John
Trarnor James Delaney aud John Douglass, OF
Engine Company No. l, were taken to the hospital
along with Breen. of Engine Company No. "a.
HOTEL GUESTS BADLY FRIGHTENED
No further attempt to fight the fire inside OF
the warehouse could be thought of. 1t was plain
that the building could not be saved and there was
danger that other buildings would be damaged.
The window. glass of the Hotel Normandie was
cracked on the Thirty eighth-st front and consld'
erabe fright among the guests IN the hotel was the
result although the building was we'll protected
bv the fremen and was not permitted to
be damaged much by the flames. There was
some excitement without proper cause, in the
Hotel Oriental at Broadway and Thlrty-ninth-
st. This was formerly the Hotel Madison.
The rear Of the Casino close to the rear end of
the burning building and for o time the hrenen
were obliged to concentrate all their energies in
the work of saving the playhouse. Its roof and
lattice work were on hre several tunes. put epo
ornamental structure was not permitted to 10
ruined. A.
roof and floors OF the warehouse fell in. There were
gusts of wind from the blazing building as crash
after crash told of the falling floors and the effect
was like that Of series OF explosions SuddeniX,
outward and crushed ia the roofs. OF seyerat
twO-stOry buildings In Broadway. A little later
the rear wall the east wall and part CL uno irJs %
and the greatest danger was over. The buildings
Nos. 1902 to j, 400 Broadway which were dam
aged by the fall Of the warehouse wall were NOS
Chief McCabe said the fire was under control.
but the ruins continued to blaze with CONSIDERABLE
terceness all day yesterday. and strong force ot
fremen continued to pour water on the nanes AZ
10 a. m. an attempt was made to pull down tnas
ss Gt in way and made
near approach to. the ruins dangerous hreman
climbed up a ladder and placed rope abont tns
top of tho wall While he was at work IL loo ke1
several times as IL the wall would come down Of its
own accord and kill him, but be continued his climb
ing as if nothing unusual was gong on Hun:
dreds OF persons in the street watched
him. with breathless excitement and checred
the trouble the wall failed to come down when fifty
or more firemen tugged at the rope. Only few
bricks fell of the top aud let the rope fall into the
fire. After that long ladders were used to KNOCK
down other parts of the wall
UNABLE TO ESTIMATE THE LossEa
It was not possible yesterday to get accurate fn-
formation about the losses by the fire. Tho ware
house was erected about two years ago at cost OF
SOC, 900. 1t was owned by the Goelet estate and
was said to be insured for it's full value. Abram
Winters and Soou Winterbottom who are the